Shadow of a Dream
by RyuuSeika
Summary: Iron Town has been rebuilt and the forest has started to return to its former grandeur, but what will Ashitaka do when San is separated from him and the town is threatened with an attack?
1. A New Start

**So this is it, my first story. I finally decided to try writing my own and, well, you can be the judge of how it turns out. It had to be a Princess Mononoke fanfic, it's one of my favourite movies after all. It's so beautifully made and I love all the characters so thought I'd do a kind of continuation from where the movie left off.  
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**Anyway, here is the first chapter for you to delve into and I hope you enjoy it!  
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_**Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Mononoke.**_

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><p><em><strong>Shadow of a Dream<strong>_

**Chapter 1 - A New Start**

_A while had passed since the time of those devastating events between the residents of Iron Town and the gods and guardians of the forest. It had climaxed at the death of the great Forest Spirit himself and many were now familiar with the tale. Unsurprisingly everyone in Iron Town now knew the full details of what had happened that day and the news had even spread to other outlying towns and villages. _

_The news was that many lives had been spared by the actions of two very different individuals. One of these was a stranger from a far off region, who had only recently arrived in the area before the series of events had occurred. His name was Ashitaka. The other was a wild, ferocious girl that the people of Iron Town were already familiar with from previous encounters. They knew her as 'Princess Mononoke'; however she was also commonly referred to as the 'Wolf Girl' due to the fact that she lived with a pair of wolves whom she regarded as brothers. The girl's actual name, although unknown to most, was San._

_Both the forest and Iron Town had suffered greatly and indeed both had been left in ruins as the forest spirit had scoured the land in search of his head. However, once San and Ashitaka had returned it to the forest spirit, he had covered the land in new life. Grass and wild-flowers grew graciously over the hills and plains that had lost their wildlife and amongst the vibrant colours of the new landscape grew new trees and bushes in an effort to return the beauty to the area that had lost it all. Although the trees did not grow completely and it would've taken a while for a normal forest to completely recover from this state, this was no normal forest – the forest spirit had seen to that. The trees grew faster and greener than ever and many recognised that this was part of the blessing that the forest spirit had granted to the surrounding land with the last of his dying power._

_The townsfolk finally came to see the beauty of the forest and with their leader, Lady Eboshi, they had sought to create a new town, one that was better than the first, one that could live together with the forest yet still function as the strong, economically sound town that it always had been. The problem was: Would the forest ever fully trust them?_

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><p>The new Iron Town had finally been finished. Those who had worked on the rebuilding where exhausted but satisfied, knowing that they could finally relax as their workload eased slightly. Iron Town was filled with the noisy chatter of jolly men and women, pleased with the work they had done. However, one man stood alone outside the town, he was not as cheerful as those nearby and in fact had left the town that very afternoon to get some peace and quiet. He relished the sound of the waves of water gently splashing around him and the calm and cooling breeze of the wind on his face. The sky was a soothing blue with only the occasional soft, white cloud drifting by. It was a lovely day.<p>

The man had roughly cut dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. Under his left eye was a scar, the result of a dagger wound he had received. He had a well-built torso from all the work he had put into the town and was becoming extremely popular amongst those that lived there. He was in his late teens and for someone so young he had experienced a lot.

The tribe he had belonged to was known as the Emishi tribe and under the regime of the latest Emperor many of them had been wiped out. He didn't inform anyone of his tribe although some may have guessed correctly from his appearance and his use of a red elk called Yakul. He had been forced to leave the Emishi people to go in search of a cure for a fatal curse he had received to his right arm from a boar demon that had attacked their settlement. Even now his right arm was still haunted by the faint markings of where the affliction had spread, although he believed the curse had left him now; it hadn't pained him at all since it had been supposedly lifted, but then again what did he know of ancient demon curses? For now he would just have to assume it had gone for good.

Ashitaka had a trusting and compassionate face with a personality to match. A peaceful character at heart, he hated killing and wars – to him they were a waste of life and should be avoided at all cost. He deeply desired for life to live together side by side without hostilities and he was pleased that this had been achieved in this region, for now at least.

At this moment in time Ashitaka's face displayed a hint of sadness and longing. He had been staring towards the forest for the last five minutes and finally he closed his eyes to take in the relaxing sounds of the things around him. A few more minutes passed before he opened them again, sighing.

"San…" he spoke softly, running his fingers over the scar on his face. "It won't be long now."

At the start of the work on Iron Town Ashitaka had politely volunteered to help with the rebuilding process and due to his popularity in the town he became a sort of 'building coordinator' later into the project. He was able to make decisions on how parts of the town should be built. This gave him the opportunity to change aspects of the town into what he assured the villagers would make the town better than before. While he was confident his ideas would be effective and successful, he secretly thought of San at these times and of what she would prefer. To him if he thought San would prefer something a certain way then it would definitely be an improvement in his eyes.

Unfortunately for Ashitaka, San couldn't see how what he was doing made any difference to her. She loathed the town no matter how much it changed. To her his deeper involvement in the process meant that she would be getting less visits from him and, although she used to hide it, she really enjoyed them.

As promised, Ashitaka had come to visit San several times a week during the beginning phases of construction. San didn't understand why she liked seeing him so much at first until she'd started to recognise and understand the strange feelings she had towards him, although these were human emotions, they had been alien to her at first. She would join Ashitaka in some of her favourite locations in the forest. She especially enjoyed sitting beside the lake where the forest spirit had lost his head, and where her mother Moro had died. Moro was a huge wolf god whose job it had been to protect the forest, but the scale of destruction that the humans had inflicted on it had been too much and she had received a fatal wound from a gunshot by Lady Eboshi and the bullet had slowly killed her – this was part of why San hated that woman so much.

It was because so much had happened here that it meant so much to her and when the two of them sat together they would occasionally talk about whatever was on San's mind at the time. She didn't feel alert and on guard around him. His presence gave her security and more of San's hidden character was able to come out, she acted more like she did with her brothers around Ashitaka. They would discuss the health of the forest and how its wildlife was recovering, they would lie on the soft grass or if it was a particularly warm day they might splash in the water. To Ashitaka's amusement San was often extremely playful when they met, so it was not uncommon for them to have a short play-fight together.

Ashitaka occasionally brought up the topic of Iron Town during a conversation, but San would instantly cut him off. San didn't care what was happening in that terrible place whatsoever. Ashitaka understood where San was coming from, the townsfolk had done too much to the forest and he sensed that he was the only reason San was seemingly getting on with them. Ashitaka was glad she no longer plotted attacks against Eboshi and he was hoping that San would start to forgive some of the people that lived there, maybe not Eboshi, but some. He constantly tried to tell her that they had changed but she would have none of it and eventually Ashitaka would give up and they would return to whatever they had been doing.

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><p>San sat outside her den deep in the forest, her two wolf brothers, Namu and Karo relaxing nearby having just eaten their recently caught meal. San was around the same age as Ashitaka; she had short brown hair with a slight green tinge to it and wore a small headband around it. Her eyes were grey and she had three red triangles painted on her face, one below each eye in the shape of a tooth and another on her forehead. She wore a wolf tooth necklace around her neck along with a small glimmering blue dagger that had been given to her by Ashitaka. It was made from a rare material unknown to her, but San cherished it not for that reason. It was something she could keep with her at all times to remind her of Ashitaka.<p>

San had a wild and often violent personality, but she was deeply passionate about the forest. Both of these aspects of San's character were what Ashitaka found so incredible and in fact for him strangely alluring. They'd met up numerous times up until the latest meeting and she had loosened up a lot around him, she didn't question the emotions inside her so much anymore while they were together but now that Ashitaka had been away from her so long they began to resurface. San had been watching her brothers lazing around in the warm sun trying to have a quick nap. She would normally have joined them in other circumstances, but San's mind was preoccupied at the moment, she was deep in thought. She was revisiting the memory of the last meeting she'd had with Ashitaka.

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><p><strong>Well that's the first chapter out of the way. Don't know when I'll have the next done, you'll just have to wait and see.<strong>

**In the mean time though, leave me your comments! I'd be interested to hear what you thought of it.  
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	2. Playful Memories

**Well here is the second chapter. The previous one mainly served as an intro to the story and now I can start to make it a little more entertaining. (I hope!)**

** In this chapter San is looking back at some time she'd spent with Ashitaka and so without further ado, here you are.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 - Playful Memories<strong>

It was early afternoon and San was eagerly preparing to see Ashitaka again. Her light and cheerful mood, uncharacteristic of her, had not gone unnoticed. Karo looked up towards her. He remembered her acting like this on other occasions; in fact he was sure it was the mood she displayed before seeing that human she liked spending time with so much.

"Are you off to see that human again?" He asked slyly.

"Hmm…What? Oh…Yeah." She replied, slightly surprised. "So what?" She added defensively.

Karo smiled and Namu looked up, eager to join in.

"You spend a lot of time with him, don't you?" Karo said.

"Yeah, I thought you hated humans." Namu interjected. "It's not very like you to enjoy the company of one of them."

Karo and Namu grinned to each other. Naturally they had grown up a lot since they were pups, but they still enjoyed causing a bit of mischief and messing around. Unfortunately for San they loved to tease her and now they had found such an entertaining topic, they mocked her frequently with the new found material. San recognised that they liked to joke around from time to time but she knew that they could be extremely serious if the situation called for it or when they needed to show authority to the other animals that lived in the forest. A shame it wasn't one of these times now.

"I…Shut up!" She stuttered before regaining herself and angrily added. "Of course I hate humans, you know that! But…" In her rage she had been just about to describe how Ashitaka was a good human, different from the others, someone who understood the forest, but before she had proceeded she'd realised that this might just intensify the teasing and so instead she finished simply and a little quietly with "…he's different."

"Don't worry San, we know." The two brothers said together, still smirking.

"You'll need to hurry San." Karo said quickly, starting to chuckle to himself.

"Yeah." Namu joined in. "You don't want to miss your _'date'_ I think humans call it." And he burst out laughing.

"That's right San; don't keep your _'future-mate'_ waiting." Karo added, as the two wolves howled with laughter.

"Those two." She said sulkily as she stomped off to meet up with Ashitaka.

San trudged through the forest towards the lake where they had arranged to meet. Considering how she felt about Ashitaka along the way.

"He does make me feel happy, but it's different from how I feel when I'm with my brothers." She reasoned to herself out loud.

Hearing the nearby rustling of a small fox, she decided it best to continue her thoughts in her head. 'Wouldn't want Karo or Namu to hear me say that sort of thing' she told herself and stopped to look around to check for any unwanted listeners. 'But what is so special about him that means I can't resist meeting him all the time.' She continued. 'I wish there was someone I could talk to. I wish Moro was still here for me.' She sighed. 'I could talk to her about anything, but I certainly don't trust my brothers with this topic. Besides what would they know about how I feel, they aren't humans.'

Silently she continued the rest of the journey past old and new trees alike; spotting several Kodama hiding in the oldest ones, but the occasional one would often look out curiously. San smiled at them as she walked on, until another thought hit her. 'What if he's found someone else to be with?' The thought was extreme but was it completely unreasonable?

One day when she had ventured to the forest edge to check that the trees nearest the town were doing ok and that none of the humans had damaged any of them, she had seen Ashitaka helping out with the finishing touches to the newly constructed gate. To her surprise she had seen a gathering of young women standing nearby and watching him, each one pretending unsuccessfully to be gathering water to bring back to their home, even though they could have used the well which had recently been restored. Upon seeing this scene, San had felt an unfamiliar feeling in her chest and her pulse quickened; he was obviously popular among the females then. After seeing this she had abruptly stormed off.

'What if he doesn't want me?' She worried. 'There are so many others interested in him.' This thought often ran through her head when she'd been away from Ashitaka, cropping up most often when she was about to go and see him again. Maybe she feared that he might not be there when she reached the place they would be meeting. Her 'worry' for not being with Ashitaka was one of these new emotions she had started feeling. She hated it and tried to stop herself doubting Ashitaka. She knew that it was silly to worry too much. He surely wouldn't leave her.

She began to make out the lake in the distance and there sitting down on the bank was Ashitaka. Everything she had been thinking about left her head and thanks to what her brothers had put her through earlier that afternoon, she put on a mischievous grin and sneaked silently towards her prey. She would be taking out the revenge she desired for the two wolves on her unsuspecting victim. The wonder of being raised by wolves was shown in her incredible agility; she really was a wolf girl. She could dodge through the shadows of the trees without a sound, right up to the edge of the clearing where Ashitaka sat.

She was crouched in the undergrowth to the side of her target and realising she could get no closer without spoiling her little trick, she leapt out towards him. The sudden, unexpected force of San hurtling at him bowled Ashitaka over onto his side, without any time for him to react.

"What the…?" He said in shock as he was pushed over, then he noticed who his assailant was. "Oh…Damn! You got me again!"

She grinned cheekily into Ashitaka's face as he rolled onto his back and looked up at her, she was lying on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

"You're not getting any better." She joked "You never notice me coming."

"Well it's not exactly easy." He retorted, starting to smile.

"Well you should practice more then."

"You were raised by wolves." He exclaimed, still looking into her eyes. "I can't match your hearing or agility; I'd need _years_ of practice!"

Her grin widened, she loved it when Ashitaka complimented her – especially when it was something related to her wolfish background. She stared into those beautiful, gentle eyes he had and felt her happiness swelling inside of her. Lowering her head to his she gave him a playful lick on the cheek.

"Is there something wrong with my cheeks?" He said jokingly. "Now you've done something to both of them."

San looked at the scar on his face and felt extremely sorry; it was her that had given him that mark.

"I'm sorry." She said remembering what had happened. "But you shouldn't get between a wolf and their prey." She added, smiling again.

"You don't need to apologise San, its fine. I was just joking."

San bent down and gave the cheek below his scar two small licks with her tongue.

"There." She said "Now they're even."

Ashitaka chuckled to himself, and then before San could react he'd rolled her off him onto her back and started to lie over her, pinning her down like she had been doing to him a few moments ago.

"And now we're even." He smiled.

San growled playfully and they started to roll around the ground, play-fighting. Ashitaka wasn't as skilled as San as he didn't have the experience of fighting with two large wolves, but he felt he put up a good fight none the less. He enjoyed it a lot; it was extremely rewarding to see San so happy, laughing and growling gleefully. This was why he was so drawn to San, along with being a fierce warrior and a tenacious guardian of the forest; she could be extremely fun, especially when she was feeling particular mischievous.

After a while they settled down next to the lake. They lay on their sides facing each other, each looking silently at the other.

Ashitaka was admiring San's beauty in his head, 'She's incredible.' He thought. Ashitaka had always been amazed by her, she was beautiful yet fierce, graceful but vicious and somehow he'd been able to tame the wild princess. 'How could anyone ever have abandoned her and she was only a baby at the time. You truly are something special. I hope you understand how much you mean to me too, San, more than you can ever imagine.' He said this to himself, remembering her saying the same thing to him a while ago. He smiled.

San's mind was also at work. 'You're so different, Ashitaka.' She thought 'You've broken all the thoughts I'd previously had on humans with your passion for peace and cooperation. You don't reject me like other humans would, you aren't fearful but caring. Damn it Ashitaka, why do I have to be so attracted to you.' She smiled. 'I suppose you aren't from this area, so neither of us would fit in very well in the town you're helping. We're both outsiders, we're different from the rest. Maybe that's why I enjoy your company so much, we can be different together. I wish you could see me more often though.'

"When will Iron Town be complete?" San asked finally, breaking the silence.

"Not long now." Ashitaka replied, surprised that she wanted to discuss this. "But I'll continue to see you as often as I can." He grabbed her hand and spoke. "Don't worry San, just a little longer and then I can visit you much more, you'll see. If that's what you want?"

She gave a small nod and looked curiously over to where he held her hand. Ashitaka had told San that holding hands was something humans did to show their affection for one another. San felt strangely reassured to feel her hand in his. It was comforting, so she returned the grasp he had on her hand.

"You humans." She sighed, a little amused. "There's so much still to learn."

"You don't need to learn anything, San. You wouldn't be the San I knew if you were more like us."

For saying this she leaned over to him and nuzzled him in the face. Ashitaka laughed and pulled her in closer. He wrapped his arms around her as he looked into her joyful eyes. There he could see his happiness reflected back at him, the same happiness spread over both of their faces.

"I thought I didn't need to learn anything." She grinned slyly, raising an eyebrow.

"Well maybe a few things." He chuckled back, feeling her arms reaching out to wrap themselves around him.

"Is that right?" She asked.

"Maybe a bit more practice." He grinned.

San growled back at him and he laughed, and then nuzzled her face as she had done earlier.

"I think you need more practice too." San remarked quietly.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. What do you think so far?<br>It'll be great to hear your feedback and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.  
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	3. Trouble in the Distance

**Here we go, the next instalment for you to peruse is just below. We've left San's memory and now we return to Ashitaka in Iron Town.**

**I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3 - Trouble in the Distance<strong>

Ashitaka was sitting in the house he had constructed for himself. It wasn't very big, only containing the things he thought essential. He didn't know what the future held for him, what would happen between him and San was something his thoughts lingered on for long periods of time. That's why he hadn't put too much effort into the place he was living, he certainly couldn't call it home – merely a place he could rest, eat and of course reflect. Ashitaka was sure that San would never want to stay in Iron Town with him, so he hadn't fitted it out to house anymore than just himself. He sat down gloomily on a chair, it was early in the afternoon and now the town was complete he felt that there wasn't anything more for him to do. He longed to visit San again, last time he'd seen her was a while ago now.

The residents had been counting on him to help them plan and construct the final part of the town, the ironworks. The new design had been a difficult task to create as Ashitaka had insisted that it had to produce a lot less smoke and it needed to require less intense labour to run than the previous version. The result was a partially water powered and much smaller ironworks. Sure it still required some work on the people's part and it still inevitably emitted some smoke, but it was a huge improvement on the copious amounts it had released before. It was smaller as it no longer needed to accommodate the vast quantity of iron it had previously produced. The supply of raw material had declined since they couldn't prospect the forest land anymore. This didn't worry anyone though; they had been able to move strongly into other trades, including fishing and growing crops. The rich, fertile soil that was now available around Iron Town was perfect and it was a wonderful alternative to the intense work most were used to in the old Iron Town.

Ashitaka had been hoping to venture into the forest that day to look for San, but Eboshi apparently needed to see him urgently so his plans had been ruined.

"What could she need me for?" He sighed. "The town's finished now."

He was staring at a small object on the table and eventually he reached out to grab it. It was a delicately crafted dagger that San had given him. Ashitaka had guessed the blade had been created from one of her wolf brothers' lost teeth, similar to those she wore around her neck, but it was a little larger than any of them. It was very well made, San was obviously extremely skilled at making weapons and he knew this from seeing the spear and dagger she used herself. It was sharp and ever so slightly serrated. The dagger gleamed white in his hands as he held it and he admired the small red markings she had decorated it with. She had given him this item, telling him that now they both had something of each others to keep with them. Ashitaka's mind wandered off as it replayed the conversation they'd had that afternoon…

"Now you can't forget me." San told him.

"I would never forget you." He replied.

"Good, because if you do then I'm sure I could arrange something with Namu and Karo that will help you to remember me!" She said with an evil smile.

Ashitaka laughed at this. "Yeah I reckon that would make me remember quite effectively. So I suppose it's a good thing I'm not planning on forgetting you ever then isn't it."

She grinned back. "And you better hurry up and finish whatever you're doing to help all those humans in that town. Otherwise I might have to steal you from them myself!"

Ashitaka raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh really, how?"

"Well I've broken into Iron Town before haven't I? So I can do it again." She said as if stating the obvious.

Ashitaka's smile intensified and he replied in a tone of mock thought. "Hmm… Well from what I remember things didn't really go to plan for you, did they?"

She'd dived at him with a growl after he'd said this.

A sound broke Ashitaka out of his thoughts and his eyes slowly came back into focus as the images of him and San together left him. Someone was knocking on the door. As he had just been thinking of her his first thought was that it was San, but then he remembered that she wouldn't know to knock on doors and sure enough he heard a familiar voice outside, that wasn't San's.

"Are you in there, Ashitaka?" The voice called.

He tied the dagger around his neck like San had done with the one he'd given her and slowly he got up and walked over to open the door.

"You took your time." The voice spoke impatiently as he opened it and Toki came into view.

"Sorry." He responded in a low tone.

Toki stopped looking impatient and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" She asked gently.

"Oh, nothing." He answered, a little less quietly this time.

"Now come on Ashitaka, there's definitely something wrong. Surely you can talk to me about it? Is it that wolf girl?"

Ashitaka didn't particularly feel like discussing the matter with Toki, but she stepped into his home none the less and, after closing the door behind her, sat down next to him. Ashitaka didn't like the people in the town calling her a _'wolf girl'_; she had a name after all and he was sure that he'd told at least Toki and her husband San's name.

"Her name's San." He shot back.

"I know, I know." She laughed "I'm just messing with you."

"Oh."

"Anyway." She said smiling. "You miss her, don't you?"

Ashitaka knew that Toki loved being up to date on the latest _'gossip'_ and developments in the town and ever since she had noticed that something may be happening between him and San, she'd pestered him about it.

"I don't really want to talk about it." He responded defensively, but truthfully.

"Well, maybe not. I'm still convinced you want to see her though, right?"

"Ok, fine. Yes that is what I want, but Eboshi says there's something she needs to see me about." He replied. "Something _really important_ apparently." He added sarcastically.

"Ah, I see. Yeah I need to see her too." She said in a bored voice "But I'm sure I can arrange for you to get a few days off starting tomorrow if that's what you want. I know everyone will understand, you've done so much for us and it's only right that you should get some time off to relax a bit with your _pack_."

"Wow, thanks Toki!" He said excitedly. "That would be great!"

"No need to thank me." She smiled. "Thank Kohroku." She added grimly. "He'll be taking over from you while you're away."

"Does he know that yet?" Ashitaka asked, knowing the answer.

"Of course not, but I'll take care of that." She replied, a malevolent smile playing across her lips.

Ashitaka felt a little sorry for Toki's husband, but he laughed all the same. It was often rather entertaining to see Toki and Kohroku together. Toki blamed her husband for most things that went wrong and she constantly reminded him how hopeless he was, but Ashitaka knew that they loved each other a lot, deep down.

"We should probably go see Eboshi now." She said, noticing that it had started to get later outside.

"Oh yeah." Ashitaka sighed gloomily. "Let's go."

Together they trudged through the town to where they would be meeting Eboshi. They met Gonza standing outside the room they'd be using and he ushered them in.

"Thank you Gonza." Eboshi said.

He nodded and stepped back into the corner of the room.

"Right, I'll get straight to the point." She spoke in a tone of concern; maybe this was something serious after all.

"As you know, the area of land around our town is extremely sought after by many for its great supply of resources and of course the iron making facility itself. This has always been true and naturally we've had to defend the town on countless occasions – many of which you are familiar with." She paused. "I've heard rumours of violence in villages not so distant from us. So I'm entrusting both of you with tasks in an effort to better prepare ourselves, should anything happen." She finished her short speech and looked over to Toki, meeting her gaze.

"What is it you want, Milady?" Toki asked politely.

"Just make sure that everyone is forewarned and ready to fight, if the need arises. Oh and Gonza, you do the same, alright?"

"Certainly Milady." Toki replied as Gonza nodded. "Don't worry; you can count on us women." She added confidently and Gonza looked at her with an angered expression on his face.

"I don't doubt it." Eboshi smiled. "Now, Ashitaka." Her gaze moved over to Ashitaka and she continued. "Since you are the only one among us on real speaking terms with a certain individual that resides in the neighbouring forest." She winked. "I would be extremely interested to know whether they would acknowledge and accept some sort of an alliance between us. We have been true to our word and have not harmed the forest; only using what we've needed but ensuring new trees are grown in their place. We have reduced the scale at which we produce iron and we recognise the forest as their territory. So, will the guardians of the forest aid us in the protection of our town if their support is required? Will Princess Mononoke fight by our side?" She took a breath and Ashitaka waited patiently for her to continue.

"Now the forest has just as much to lose by our downfall as we do. If intruders take the town, they will be relentless. The forest will be burned to the ground and anything that survives will be hunted mercilessly. We cannot win a war in our current state if we stand apart, but together we might have a chance." She looked deeply into his eyes. "It is your job to gain the support of the forest, should we need it and I am positive that we will. It's only a matter of time before those dark days reach out over our town. This is extremely important, Ashitaka, but I know someone of your strength and compassion can help the wolf princess and her wild accomplices see reason."

"I will do what I can." He responded calmly.

Eboshi nodded. "That's all I ask." And she dismissed them.

"Wow." Toki spoke as they left the building. "Looks like you've got one heck of a job to do."

"It'll definitely take some time." Ashitaka replied. "I just hope she understands."

Ashitaka knew that Eboshi had been right; if the two sides didn't come together they wouldn't be a huge challenge for any kind of an organised army, especially when both sides were still fairly weak and only just recovering. Together, though, they could put up a strong fight - the power of the forest and Iron Town side by side would create an impressive force. Mighty enough to challenge one consisting of even the most skilled of fighters.

"I'm sure she will." Toki said reassuringly. "She'll see that it's for the protection of the forest. But." She paused and giggled to herself. "I'm sure she'll do it for you in any case."

Ashitaka smiled at Toki. "I hope you're right. But I'm sure it will take more than that to persuade her."

"Well at least you've been given a solid reason to go and see her now."

"That's true."

"Well, catch you later Ashitaka. I've got to make dinner for that hopeless excuse for a man I call my husband."

Ashitaka nodded and waved as she marched off towards her house. He rushed home and deciding he wasn't hungry, sprang into bed; his wolf-tooth dagger still dangling from his neck. The excitement of meeting San the next day was starting to sink in and he went to sleep quickly planning to set off early in the morning. He dreamed of San and how he longed to see her as he slumbered on into the night.

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><p>Deep in the forest San lay beside her brothers, she hadn't been able to get any sleep that night as she had missed Ashitaka's company so much. They hadn't arranged a time to see each other again, so she was unsure when they would next meet. She longed for him to be with her, his warm and comforting presence guiding her to sleep was what she needed right now. It had been too long she thought. 'Has he given up on me?' She sniffed quietly and grasped the dagger he had given her. She always wore it around her neck, it was as close to Ashitaka as she could get for now.<p>

After an unhappy few moments she eventually fell into a cold and uncomfortable sleep. Her brothers no longer providing the warmth and comfort they always had done before. Apparently those two weren't enough anymore – she needed Ashitaka, without him she was alone and empty. She had been strong and independent before she'd met him, but it was because of him that she had developed these emotions. He couldn't leave her now, not when she felt as human as she thought she ever could be. It was him that provided her with her strength now and without him she wasn't as strong as before.

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><p><strong>I'd like to thank <em>Shimotsuki no Miko<em> for my first review! It's great to hear that you like the story so far. Everyone's feedback is greatly appreciated, so leave me your thoughts and I'll continue to update the story whenever I can. :) **


	4. A Rude Awakening

**Sorry it took a while to get this done, I've been busy with other things. But I finally got some time to finish this chapter off!**

**It's the morning now and Ashitaka is getting ready to head off. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4 - A Rude Awakening<strong>

Ashitaka left the house excitedly next morning and headed for the stables. He greeted Yakul when he arrived and started loading him up with some provisions.

"We're going to see San today." Ashitaka told him happily.

Yakul nudged him in the arm, pleased to be going on a proper trip at last. Although Ashitaka knew Yakul couldn't talk back to him, he was confident that the elk understood exactly what he said. Yakul was Ashitaka's faithful companion and he was a remarkably intelligent animal. That's why Ashitaka often liked to talk to him; he knew when Ashitaka was feeling upset and Ashitaka found him a great comfort.

The pair of them had left their old tribe and had travelled together through the long and rough journey that had led them to Iron Town. Yakul was a magnificent creature; he had impressive tall horns and an elegant red coat, with a lighter coloured chest and underbelly. He was a fine example of a red elk, something not many people had ever seen before as they were incredibly rare and some even believed that they had gone extinct. Unfortunately this animal was something that people familiar with the old tribal lifestyles and customs could use to link Ashitaka back to his past. These people knew that the Emishi tribe had used these regal animals, but this wasn't going to stop Ashitaka from using Yakul whenever he needed to travel somewhere.

He had cared for Yakul while he worked on the town because the elk had suffered an arrow wound to his right hind leg. He allowed the elk to rest and made sure he never over exerted himself if he needed some exercise. He had recovered well and Ashitaka saw that he was in high spirits today, eager to join Ashitaka in the forest.

"Right." Ashitaka said and he led Yakul out of the stables. "I think we're all ready to go."

Ashitaka walked over to the gate, Yakul following close behind, and waited for the gate to open.

"Thanks." He waved to one of the men on look-out duty.

"Watch yourself out there." The man called back.

He nodded, mounted up on Yakul and they set off towards the forest.

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><p>San had awoken with a start, her brothers had forced her to wake up and she wasn't happy about it. Last night she'd barely had any sleep and now she was extremely grumpy. She was furious when she realised just how early in the morning it was.<p>

"That wasn't funny!" She roared. "I'm really tired and I wanted more sleep." She glared at them; San's temper wasn't to be tested this early in the morning as Karo and Namu knew very well. But to San's surprise the two wolves weren't laughing.

"This isn't a joke San." Karo spoke seriously. "There are humans in the forest."

"What?" San shouted. She stood up alert, as if preparing for an attack. "Humans in the forest! Don't they know they aren't allowed? I'll get my things and we can set off at once." She was furious that humans were the reason she'd had to get up at this time and she was going to make them pay dearly for it. She sprinted over to where her spear was stuck in the ground.

"Wait." Namu called to her. "We don't know anything more of the intruders. We're just sure they're hidden somewhere in the forest."

"Yeah." Karo also called after San "They might be plotting something; we need to find out what they're up to. It will help to know what we're up against and so far we're unsure whether they are planning something against us and the forest, or Iron Town."

"So they aren't from Iron Town then?" San asked as she walked back over to them, spear in hand. She was a little less angry now that she knew that something suspicious was going on.

"No." Namu replied. "We know their scent.

"Ashitaka isn't among them either." Karo added. "We know his scent even better, thanks to you."

San blushed slightly.

"Well we've got to find out what the humans are up to." She said commandingly.

"Yes." Namu replied. "We just need to make sure that you'll stay close to us."

"I can look after myself!" She said indignantly.

"That depends on the number of humans we come across." Karo told her. "We all need to be alert and on guard. As we said, we don't know what they're up to."

"Fine!" She shot back, infuriated that they didn't believe she could cope on her own. "Let's go already!"

San jumped on Namu's back and the wolf clan set off to search for the intruders.

They hadn't noticed a small party of five men hidden completely from sight in a nearby bush, watching over their conversation.

"Stupid girl." One of the men whispered. "How could the young prince ever of been drawn to such a savage. I suppose she could be useful for other reasons too, though." He added, smirking.

"Quiet." The leader hissed. "Ready with the signal?"

The first man produced a strange instrument from his pockets.

"Good." The leader whispered. When he could no longer see the wolf clan in the distance he nodded to the man with the instrument. "Now."

The man blew into the instrument, which made an eerie whistling sound that pierced through the quiet forest.

"All right, get moving everyone."

The group silently sneaked out of where they were hidden and headed off through the forest in the wake of the wolves, careful not to be spotted.

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><p>"What was that?" San said as soon as she heard the noise.<p>

"I heard it too." Karo and Namu said at the same time, looking around for movement.

"Wait I smell something." Karo continued. "Strange, it smells like…"

"Over there!" San interrupted. She pointed, and then stopped. "Ashitaka?" She turned to face Karo, who stood next to her. "I thought you said he wasn't in the forest."

Karo looked a little confused. "He wasn't, that's why I thought it was strange to smell his scent."

"He must've just arrived." Namu added.

Ashitaka noticed San sitting on the back of one of her brothers and Yakul carried him over towards her. They weren't far from the forest edge; he had only recently passed the outer trees.

"Nice of you to come and meet me." Ashitaka smiled, and then stopped as he saw the surprised look on San's face.

"What are you doing here?" She said blankly.

"I came to see how you were." He answered. "Are you alright?"

"Something strange is happening. There are humans somewhere around." Namu responded for San. "Besides you of course." He added

"That's right." Karo continued. "They're up to something. Did you hear a strange sound just now?"

"Err…No." Ashitaka replied with a shake of his head. "I only reached the forest a little while ago, look you can still see where the trees thin out a bit." He added, pointing out of the forest.

The wolves followed Ashitaka's gaze and they all saw a gathering of six men, dressed in black with swords strapped onto their backs. Three of them broke into a sprint and ran stealthily through the trees towards Iron Town. The other three looked over towards where Ashitaka, Yakul, San and the wolves stood then dashed off in the opposite direction to the others, deeper into the forest.

Ashitaka reacted instantaneously; he strung his bow then said. "Karo and Namu, you go after the ones that ran into the forest. You're quicker than Yakul through this terrain. Do what you can to stop them; they're definitely not from around here so I'm sure whatever they're planning can't be good." He paused and the two wolves nodded. He looked towards San. "San, you go with them, but be careful."

"Why is everyone telling me to be careful?" She burst out.

"Because we care what happens to you San." Karo, Namu and Ashitaka all said together.

Ashitaka turned in the direction of the men that had made for Iron Town and spoke. "I'll go and do what I can to help Iron Town." With a grim expression on his face he added. "Good luck, we'll meet later if all goes well and the danger passes."

They split up, San and the wolves rushed deeper into the forest while Ashitaka and Yakul galloped back past the trees towards Iron Town.

San was worried about Ashitaka; he would be on his own until he reached Iron Town and she yearned for him to be alright. She suddenly heard the sound of Yakul cry out in pain and without thinking jumped off the back of her brother and sprinted as fast as she could towards the sound. Her brothers stopped abruptly.

"San!" They called together, but before they could turn around to go after her the three men from earlier jumped out at them and drew their weapons. They had no choice but to hope she would be ok as they began to fight their attackers.

San barely heard her brothers shouting and growling in the distance, her ears had muted to any sound that didn't give away Ashitaka's condition. As she ran past the trees she thought of him. 'He's a strong warrior.' She told herself. 'Nothing could've happened to him. There were only three of them after all.' This didn't reassure her; Even if there were only three it was still obviously too many for him to face alone, even with Yakul and he sounded hurt. These men looked dangerous and San needed to know what had happened to Ashitaka for real.

All of a sudden she felt something snake like grip round her right ankle, she felt it tug at her leg and she tripped. The dagger Ashitaka had given her flew off from around her neck to land in a bush some distance ahead of her, out of reach. She hit the floor hard and rolled over to see what had caused her to fall over. She saw a length of rope led from her ankle to a tree, where it was tied in a tight knot. It had been a trap. She'd dropped her spear in the fall, but fortunately her main dagger was nearby. She picked it up and scanned the area; it was the same area that she'd met Ashitaka and Yakul before they had set off for Iron Town. Her senses worked hard, trying to find a scent or hear the sound of whoever had done this to her. San gave up after a minute and started trying to sever the rope with the blade. The rope was thick and it was tough to get into, but she was making progress. Then she felt something small and sharp prick the skin of her left shoulder. She stopped what she was doing and reached her right hand over to see what it was. San discovered that it was a dart and before she had been able to remove it she had fallen onto her back. She could still hear slightly but her vision began to blur.

"Nice shot." Someone muttered in the background.

She could make out five figures walking over to her, but had no strength to do anything about it. One of them spoke.

"Well now, look at this. Regretting leaving the protection of your friends now aren't you?" He laughed nastily. "It was too easy capturing you. I'll be honest I expected more from the _great_ Princess Mononoke." He mocked. "But then I suppose you are only human after all." He laughed again.

San felt the last of her energy leave her and her vision turned to darkness.

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><p><strong>Hooray! More reviews! Thanks so much, it's great to hear your feedback and I'm glad people like the story. :D<br>****Any comments you have of how you find the story and any improvements I can make are appreciated!**

**Not sure when I'll have the next chapter done, but keep an eye out for it. :)**


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